


imagine being a barista forever

by youngerdrgrey



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: 30 x 31 Writing Challenge, Gen, Prompt Fill, this prompt was harder than expected tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 03:45:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9217163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngerdrgrey/pseuds/youngerdrgrey
Summary: But it’s not about the eternal baristas, it’s about never paying full price for a latte, even in the afterlife./prompt:“I never thought about it like that before.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day two of the 30 x 31 challenge by tumblr user, amoresophistocatedkrackel

 

.

Back on Earth, a decent latte costs upwards of four dollars. That's a solid dollar more than getting the latte ingredients and just making them what you need them to be all on their own. So, back on Earth, Eleanor always bought two shots of espresso with vanilla and two percent milk. Same thing, minus the steamed milk, and she got to pocket another buck to blow on something else.

Only, she still orders that in the Good Place. Still walks up to the eternal barista (rough gig) and asks for her double shot with vanilla and two percent. And it's frustrating because she's acclimated to living this way because this is how things are done when money's a factor and things can go wrong just as easily as your espresso can be bitter as fork if your barista doesn't know how to make it.

But Chidi doesn't get it. His jaw stiffens up in that way when he really wants to tell her off, and he says, "Just get the latte."

"But I forking hate lattes now. They're too sweet, too milky."

"You love milk. You drink a gallon a day," he says, which is an exaggeration, but on her cartoon days, she does do some damage to the carton in the fridge. Bowl as big as her head, spoon the size of her arm, and cereal that never gets soggy no matter how long it soaks.

"I drink a reasonable amount of milk, and I don't see why my order has to bother you so much."

"Because it's cheating." He always says that like it means something to her. "You started this because you wanted a way to make the system pay instead of owning up to your own habits."

"I also started it because I was broke." She didn't make enough to splurge on coffee nearly as much as she did. "And it feels weird to abandon who I was just because I'm here now."

Jason Mendoza -- because she really wants to acknowledge who he actually is every once in a while -- speaks up from his end of the table. He rests his hands on either side of his Dirty Chai, which, yes, he totally ordered just to say the word dirty, and sighs. "You know, it's like a scab."

Eleanor claps her hands together. "Yeah, it's like a --" She pauses. "A scab, seriously?"

Jason nods. "You know how you pick at it, even when you're not supposed to, and once it heals up eventually, you still kind of pick at the spot. You just do it at that point. It's a part of you."

Eleanor and Chidi both wind up nodding. Scabs definitely do become a part of you. Eleanor has the dark spots on her knees to prove it. And if this whole caffeine habit is a scab, then why bother drawing more attention to it? It heals whether or not she picks at it. She still gets what she needs, and if the way she gets it is a little unorthodox, then who cares? Besides Chidi, of course. But he's not her soulmate -- not really -- and he sure as hell isn't her keeper.

She takes a big gulp of her drink and smacks her lips. "Bittersweet. It's really just like me."

Chidi sighs and sips from his tea. "I guess it is. I've never thought about it like that before."

"You want a sip?"

"I'm fine. Eleanor, no. Eleanor, stop. I don't want to drink that!"

She laughs. Toasts with Jason while Chidi pouts. Then it hits her. "Does caffeine even do anything to us here?" The coffee’s legit as useless as picking a scab. Forking a.


End file.
